# Where is the "Mean Symbol" in Excel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 17, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023 "2005-12-17T04:50:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/1 "2005-12-17T04:50:08Z")

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Insert --\> Symbol ?? Nope.

It looks like an “x” with little bar over it.

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/2 "2005-12-17T04:55:34Z")

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I don’t think they have it. I usually just write something like “Average”.

Just FYI, x with a bar over it is the mean of x. If you want the mean of y, you would have a y with a bar over it.

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**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/3 "2005-12-17T04:59:50Z")

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Do you have Equation Writer installed? I am using another program in Word (Mathtype) at the moment, but I plan on installing EW as soon as I can find those &\*(^#&@^%&^#\*Y disks. (EW is a standard component of office, but you have to specify its installation.) You should find more symbols therein.

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**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/4 "2005-12-17T05:05:20Z")

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> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> I don’t think they have it. I usually just write something like “Average”.
> 
> Just FYI, x with a bar over it is the mean of x. If you want the mean of y, you would have a y with a bar over it.

In this case, it was the mean of x. Thanks for the tip though! 🙂

They have all those damn symbols in there. It seems that this one would be a bit more popular.

Alternatively, they should have an easy way to stick a little bar over your favorite letter of choice.

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**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/5 "2005-12-17T06:14:34Z")

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> [@Bearflag70](#):
>
> Where is the “Mean Symbol” in Excel?

It should be easy to find. It looks like this :mad:

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-mean-symbol-in-excel/336023/6 "2005-12-17T18:00:42Z")

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Is it true that mean symbols suck? 😉